Cotswold District Council, Museums Service Blockley Reminiscence Project: Case Study

Reminiscence projects promote inclusion among older people. As the Cotswold Museums Service shows, even relatively small scale projects can make a big difference to people’s lives. They can engage them in positive and worthwhile projects, delivering more for communities than the small investment might suggest.

A series of photographs was the starting point for expanding the information held in the local museum’s photographic archives. In January 2004, the Cotswold Museum Service held three Reminiscence Sessions in the village of Blockley.

Photographs from the museum archives were taken into the community for people to look at. They then shared their memories of the village. The results are collated on the Cotswold District Council’s website.

The Museum Service has a collection of over 500 photographs of Blockley. The service scanned 300 of these onto its online database. Museum staff took laptops to Blockley where residents were shown how to use the equipment.

They were then taught how to access the database, allowing them to view the imagery, compare then to now and to reminisce by sharing memories. These activities motivated interaction with other residents and allowed the Museum Service to expand its records, using oral history as the inspiration for an online village exhibition.

The project aimed to provide access to the Blockley photographic archive held by the Cotswold Museum Service, and collected by Blockley Antiquarian Society. It set out to promote the use of the archive as a local history resource.

Members of the community were encouraged to share their memories and experiences; the task stimulated discussion amongst the community. By incorporating the internet, online learning and computer skills were improved in the community. The residents also gained a greater understanding of IT and the many ways it can be useful.

Overall, the project has stimulated interest in museums and archives by involving the community. The website development proves how items held by institutions rely on the community to bring them alive and make them more accessible to the public.

The project was part funded by Adult Continuing Education and Training (ACET), a Gloucestershire based group for adult education, and supported by Blockley Antiquarian Society. The sum of £834 was required to complete the project. The Cotswold District Council venue was provided free of charge by Blockley Parish.

For more information please contact:

Cotswold District Council, Museums Service Blockley Reminiscence Project Judy Mills Collections Management Officer Tel: 01285 655 611 Email: judy.mills@cotswold.gov.uk